Savant Wealth Management’s Brent Brodeski Named An EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 Midwest Award Winner
Winners Judged on Entrepreneurial Spirit, Purpose, Growth, Impact, Financial Performance
Key Facts at a Glance
- Brent Brodeski is one of 11 Midwest regional award winners
- The EY Entrepreneur of the Year® Midwest region includes Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin
- An independent panel of past winners, top CEOs, and business leaders selected this year’s winners
- Regional winners will now be considered for the Entrepreneur of the Year National Awards in November 2026
ROCKFORD, Ill. (Jun. 15, 2026) – Savant Wealth Management, a fee-only registered investment adviser (RIA), announced that its founder and CEO, Brent Brodeski, CPA, CFP®, CFA®, MBA, has been named an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 Midwest Award winner. Brodeski is among 65 program participants in the Midwest, which includes 30 finalists who competed for the title.
Brodeski, a native of Rockford, Ill., is widely recognized within the RIA industry. In his role at Savant, Brodeski oversees a national firm with more than 800 employees across 27 U.S. states and a vision to improve a million lives. A graduate of Northern Illinois University (NIU), Brodeski is also a co-founder and past president of Zero Alpha Group and co-founder of the Alliance for RIAs. He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and serves on the boards of the NIU Foundation and the RVC Foundation.
“Savant’s mission has always been to improve a million lives, including those of our clients, our teams, and the people in the communities we serve,” said Brodeski. “We envisioned building a firm that puts people first and grows the right way over time. To see that mission grow into what it is today is incredibly meaningful. I’m grateful for the recognition, but even more so for the team, our clients, and the partners who have been a part of this journey.”
Now in its 41st year, the Entrepreneur Of The Year® program honors business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. It celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or raised outside capital to grow their company, transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to strengthen it for the future.
An independent panel of past winners, top CEOs, and business leaders chose the regional winners, assessing candidates on their long-term value creation, entrepreneurial spirit, purpose-driven commitment, and significant growth and impact.
As a Midwest award winner, Brodeski will now be considered by the national judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, where high-growth CEOs, Fortune 1000 executives and investors converge to shape the future of business. The National Overall Award winner will move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in May 2027.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 60 countries and territories globally.
The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where national finalists and award winners are announced. The national overall winner represents the US at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ competition.
Methodology
Announced June 11, 2026, the EY Entrepreneur of the Year® Midwest regional awards use an independent, rigorous judging methodology based on a balanced scorecard. Nominees are not judged purely by industry or size, but rather on their holistic entrepreneurial achievements, leadership, and long-term impact. The judging process evaluates candidates across four primary core criteria:
- Entrepreneurial Spirit: Identifying opportunities to innovate, taking risks, and demonstrating courage and resilience to overcome significant obstacles.
- Purpose: Committing to an inspiring vision, driving strategies for sustainability, and creating long-term value for diverse stakeholders (e.g., employees, customers, suppliers).
- Growth: Successfully increasing market share, driving revenue, and expanding into new markets.
- Impact: Positively affecting customers, focusing on diversity and inclusion, and integrating sustainable ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices.
Neither Brent Brodeski nor Savant Wealth Management paid a fee to be included in the selection process.
About Savant Wealth Management
Celebrating its 40th year, Savant Wealth Management is a leading independent, nationally recognized, fee-only firm serving clients with approximately $52 billion in assets under management and $1.4 billion in assets under advisement as of May 31, 2026. As a fiduciary advisor, Savant provides investment management, comprehensive financial planning, retirement plan services, and family office solutions to financially established individuals and institutions. Savant also offers corporate accounting, tax preparation, payroll, and consulting services through its affiliate, Savant Tax & Consulting, and estate planning document preparation and related legal services through its affiliated law firm, Savant Legal LLP.
2026 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 Midwest Award: This award is part of an annual awards program, with regional winners selected each June. The 2026 Midwest awards were announced June 11, 2026, at a regional ceremony in Chicago, Illinois. The award is administered by Ernst & Young LLP, and recipients are selected by an independent panel of past award winners, CEOs, and other business leaders. Candidates are evaluated using a proprietary methodology that considers criteria including entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact. Brent Brodeski was one of 11 regional winners selected from participants across the Midwest region (Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin). Neither Brent Brodeski nor Savant Wealth Management paid a fee to be considered for or to receive this award.
Savant is a registered investment adviser. Past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk. Neither rankings and/or recognitions by unaffiliated rating services, publications, media, or other organizations, nor the achievement of any professional designation, certification, degree, or license, or any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he or she will experience a certain level of results if Savant is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. Please read our Important Disclosures at savantwealth.com.
Frequently Asked Questions About Brent Brodeski and the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award
When were the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® Midwest regional awards announced?
The EY Entrepreneur of the Year® Midwest regional awards were announced on Thursday, June 11, 2026, at a ceremony held in Chicago. Brent Brodeski, founder and CEO of Savant Wealth Management, was one of 11 winners.
Who selected the winners of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® Midwest region?
According to EY, regional winners were selected by an independent panel of past winners, top CEOs and business leaders. Judges evaluated candidates on long-term value creation, entrepreneurial spirit, purpose-driven commitment, and significant growth and impact.
What is Brent Brodeski’s role at Savant Wealth Management?
Brent Brodeski is the founder and CEO of Savant. He is a native of Rockford, Illinois, and a graduate of Northern Illinois University. Brent Brodeski is a CPA, a CFP® professional, a CFA® charterholder, and holds an MBA. Read Brent Brodeski’s full bio here.
What is Savant’s vision and mission?
Savant’s vision is to transform personal and financial dreams into goals and goals into reality. The firm’s mission is to build one million ideal futures for our clients, our team, and the communities we serve.